Chapter 01
"Shoya Ishida" is the first chapter of the Koe no Katachi manga series. Synopsis Shouya confronts his past demons, and tells the story of his old friends, a shoe thief, his sisters ex-boyfriend, and how he met a weirdo. Summary The story starts with Shouya Ishida, a 12th grade high school student, looking for his ex-classmate Shouko Nishimiya in a Sign Language Club to give her back an old notebook she used to use to communicate with her peers. Shouko, unsure how to respond to Shouya, runs away from him. Six years earlier, Shouya hangs out with his friends Kazuki Shimada and Keisuke Hirose. Together, the trio jump off a bridge for their 41st Daily Daredevil Contest as a way to fight their after-school boredom. Arriving home completely drenched, they clean up and spend the rest of their afternoon playing video games and reading manga in Shouya's room. Shimada asks Shouya where the next book in the manga he is reading is at to which Shouya responds that it is in his sisters room. She is passed out in the doorway of her room still in her high school uniform. In her room is a man named Genki, who Shouya claims is the 30th man his sister has brought home, and that she dates all these men because "life is a war against boredom." The next day, Miki Kawai announces to the class that she overhead Takeuchi-sensei talking about a new transfer student coming to their classroom. With everyone gossiping, Shimada proclaims that he hopes the new student is a girl and Shouya shouts that he hopes it isn't because "you can't play with girls." Commencing the 42nd Daily Daredevil Contest, Shouya and Keisuke jump immediately jump off the bridge. Shimada, still on the bridge, declines saying he has to attend the cram school and tells them they should quit the Daredevil stuff because they will be in middle school next year. Upon finding a nutria (a type of rodent), Shimada decides to skip cram school and join his friends, only to find that Shouya's shoes were stolen while the three were in the river. Upon returning home and finding Naoka Ueno there, he kicks her out before cleaning up and playing video games with his friends. Before school the following day, Shimada shows Shouya a picture of a boy wearing Shouya's stolen shoes. They treat this as a military mission, commencing Operation: Shoe Rescue and nicknaming the thief "Deluxe." They commission Naoka later that day to draw Deluxe to them so Shouya can confront him about stealing his shoes. He gives the shoes back in an intimidating manner to which Shouya punches him and the foursome leave happily. On their way back to Shouya's house, they are confronted by Genki who gut punches Shouya so hard that he flies into the air. Shimada, Keisuke, and Naoka run away leaving Shouya to Genki's mercy. Genki threatens Shouya, asking why he would beat up his little brother, and Shouya thinks this is hilarious. Upon returning home with Shimada and Keisuke, Shouya's mom, Miyako Ishida asks them to quit with the Daily Daredevil nonsense as it's clearly causing a lot of trouble for them. Shouya laughs it off and proclaims this as a victory against boredom. Shouya again goes into his sisters room to find some manga for Shimada when he runs into Pedro who tells him that he will protect Shouya if he ever gets in trouble. The next day, all the students are given a new seating arrangement. Naoka asks Miyoko Sahara to switch seats with her so she can sit next to Shouya as the rest of the class starts barraging Takeuchi-sensei with questions about the new transfer student. They find out the new transfer student is a girl and excitedly gossip about where she will sit. On their way home from school, Shouya asks Shimada and Keisuke where they want to play today. Shimada tells them he can't play because he has to go to cram school and can't miss it because skipped too many times already. Keisuke tells Shouya he doesn't want to jump off the bridge anymore because a 50 foot drop feels like concrete and that he would rather find a more productive way to spend their time. Shouya returns home alone to play video games and succumb to his boredom. The day of the transfer student arrives and Shouko enters the room. Takeuchi-sensei asks her to introduce herself, but she just stood there silently smiling. He taps on her shoulders and she pulls out a notebook, flipping through the pages one-by-one all of them explaining who she is until she gets to a page that only says "I'm deaf." Shouya, equating Shouko to an alien, bellows out, "What a weirdo!" Shouko, not able to hear what was just said, is told to take a seat in front of Shouya and she bows to each classmate as she makes her way to her new seat.Book: A Silent Voice|Comixology|Chapter 1, Volume 1. Retrieved November 28, 2018. Characters Characters in order of appearance: * Shouya Ishida (first appearance) * Shouko Nishimiya (first appearance) * Keisuke Hirose (first appearance) * Kazuki Shimada (first appearance) * Miyako Ishida (first appearance) * Shouya's Sister (first appearance) * Genki (first appearance) * Miki Kawai (first appearance) * Miyoko Sahara (first appearance) * Naoka Ueno (first appearance) * Pedro (first appearance) * Takeuchi-sensei (first appearance) References Category:Manga Chapters Category:Volume 1